good saturday afternoon. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. it's 52 days until election day and here's what's happening this hour. congressman paul ryan is campaigning in the swing state of florida today. he attended a rally earlier arguing that president obama has had enough time to get the economy back on track and that he hasn't done it. >> when he came in, he came with one party rule. president obama and his party controlled everything. the obama economic agenda did not fail because it was stopped. it failed because it was passed. >> today we learned who

congressman ryan's debate practice partner will be. there he is right there, ted olson, former solicitor general under george w. bush, he will be playing the role of vice president biden in mock debates. congressman ryan and vice president biden will face off one time. starting next week, they will receive regular intelligence briefings from national security officials in the obama administration. and the obama campaign is out with a new ad today, its spoons to governor romney who has been asking americans if they are better off now than they were four years ago. >> here's where we are today. 30 months of private sector job growth creating 4.6 million new jobs. we're not there get, but the real question is whose plan is better for you? the president's plan asks millionaires to pay a little more. to help invest in a strong middle class. >> also today some big news from wisconsin.

a judge there has struck down much of the state law championed by governor scott walker that virtually ended collective bargaining rights for most public work is in that state. the law remains largely in effect for city worker hes, but not for city, county and school workers. governor walker says the state will be appealing that decision. we will have more on these stories over the next three hours. that's right. three hours. with mitt romney off the campaign trail, his vice presidential nominee is on the road and the critical swing state of florida. congressman paul ryan took his party's message to a rally, and he wasted no time going after president obama and the democrats on the economy. >> the obama economic agenda did not fail because it was stopped. it failed because it was passed. it didn't work.

>> ron mott is covering the ryan campaign. he is in florida on this saturday for us. hey, there, ron. >> reporter: how are you? he came town here it to the swing state today swinging a big old bat at president obama and really a continuation of his attack on president obama yesterday up at the value voters forum up in washington. today he hit mostly on domestic issues talking about the economy, the 23 million or so american wlos as who are out ofr underemployed. do you want four more years what have you've had or do you want someone with business experience and knows how to create an economy where jobs are thriving. it is hot here today, almost 90 frees. they had a huge crowd here, about 4,000 to 5,000 people braved the heat. we're just north of the tampa st. pete area. and for the republicans, they think this corridor over to

daytona beach is key to them to have a chance at winning this state. >> what does the tenor and tone of his speech tell us about the direction of the campaign? >> traditionally vp candidates have been charged with carrying the bigger stick and throwing the who are aggressive rhetoric out. that's certainly what paul ryan has done here especially this week, trying to take perhaps some of the attention away from mitt romney and some of the comments or criticism that he had of the obama administration in the hours just after the are horrible disaster over in libya. and so he was focused pretty much the last 48 hours, paul ryan is you can , on the econom. that's where they think they can hit the president hardest and that's what they will try to continue to punch at him over the next 50 some days. >> ron mott for us in florida, thank you so much. turning how to the violent and deadly anti-american protests that we've been seeing in the the middle east and around the world now.

i want to show you this map. this is a map of where these protests are happening. we wanted to give and you sense of how widespread the anti-american rage has been. we have now seen protests in about 20 countries across the world. they've even stretched as far away as australia now. police questioned the california filmmaker and he has not been charged. james made say tod jim joining us live. >> reporter: there have been no row te protests in egypt today. rye iot police determined to st them. and after hundreds of injuries on both sides. president morsi finally gave the area to clear the area and early

this morning the police swept through tahrir square, arresting protesters as they went along and also those illegal vendors who were making a mint. that opened the square for normal traffic again. and buses full of riot police rae main pa wree ma remain parked on all sides. so in fact there have been few protests anywhere else in the middle east take. so it does look for now like friday, yesterday, was the intended day of rage. >> what's the mood like on the ground there? >> reporter: it felt festive actually today. it felt normal again. cairo was its wonderfully chaotic self. depends on who you talk to. i think there's a sense among most average people here, average muslims, that they're glad the violence is over. they feel like it is. they were absolutely appalled by the film. they thought it should never have been made and should never

have been released. but most muslims especially here in cairo were completely against the violence, completely against the attacks on and killings of americans or any other foreigners or any other people related to this issue. >> jim maceda, thank you. here at home, the mideast protests have ignited a political debate that seems to be changing by the day. this morning rick santorum speaking at the values voters summit in washington pointing the blame finger right at president obama. >> this president has to take a share of the responsibility for what the middle east looks like today because he helped structure it. every single one of those countries who had a hostile regime to the united states, who had a list of grievances against america and would wrap themselves this victimhood about how america had been so wrong to them, this president has coddled and appeased.

>> for insight, i want to bring in jim frederick, international editor for "time" magazine. the cover story is about the anti-american protests. the agents of outrage. also, shira tchtupplet, also joining us. long time aide for senator john mccain, wrote something in real clear politics. saying in part, quote, the rush by republicans including mitt romney, sarah palin and scores of other conservatives to condemn president obama for policies they claim helped precipitate the attacks is as tortured in its reasoning as it is unseemly in its timing. we just heard from rick santorum there, as well. how has the romney campaign responded to the backlash over his comments? >> well, initially they didn't even blink. they held a press conference, they doubled down on the issue, they didn't see anything wrong with it.

and in the following day, you saw some of his senior advisers eak out and further emphasize their point. they didn't back down at all. but towards the end of the week, we saw them change the subject slightly, we saw romney and paul ryan return to issues like the economy which is what they would much rather be talking about than what happened earlier this week in the middle east. >> jim, in your recent issue, the question is raised did the arab spring make that region more dangerous. and he also introduce as new term, a global industry of outrage. what is that? >> well, the global industry of outrage is -- i mean, these protests did not spontaneously erupt because hundreds of millions of people around the world saw a youtube video. they were told about the video you through a series imams, blogger, radio and talk show hosts who convinced them that the american administration was somehow responsible to this particular video, which is the

great disconnect about what eye happening here. it's not really -- the video could have been anything. it doesn't matter what the video is or what it said. it's how -- what was in the video was transferred to the people, what people think that the video is about. and, yeah, there's a global industry, it is in their interests to foment hatred for the united states. >> and this is a coordinated effo effort? >> it's a loose effort. some of the imams don't even know what the others are doing. it's not a global conspiracy, but from country to country to country, there are for that particular reenligion, there's right wing movement that it's he in their interests to insight this kind of hatred. >> shira, i want to turn to the political implications. for the first time in a very long time, a democratic presidential candidate has a clear advantage on national security issues. the "washington post" poll was taken before the protests and it

shows that voters trust president obama over mitt romney when it comes dealing with terrorism. and when it comes to international issues, 51% to 38%. what do you expect happens to those numbers after this week? >> i don't think they'll change much. if anything, they'll increase for the president. four years ago he seemed weak on foreign policy especially compared to senator mccain. so i think just being in the office of the presidency itself really helps the incumbent in this case and this and that's o obama. >> we've seen around 20 protests. it looks like things are finally starting to calm down a bit in the middle east. but southeast asia, they've spread there, they've spread now even to australia. what eye t's the larger narrati?

>> i think it reveals the united states is losing the information war about what the west stands for. the they think i'm concerned about is not so many this particular movie. because on the internet, if it you want to be offended, you'll find it. if this can happen with a movie like this, it can happen again and again and again. >> how are we losing the information war? it certainly can't be from a lack of trying. >> that's a great question, but i think even this channel, i saw a man on the street interview of somebody in egypt who he clearly couldn't fathom that president obama couldn't have known about the video before it was released on the internet. so when you have millions of people worldwide who don't know what the internet real is, how it works, and it's inconceivable for them to think that the american president could not control everything on it, it's

like we're from different planets. >> like we're from different planets. we'll leave it right there. jim and shira, thank you both so much. we'll check in with you later in the hour, as well. so don't go too far. coming up, social conservatives having their on cone venks this weekend. will it rival tampa? that's next. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas. there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in the economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ throughout our lives.

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on november 6th, americans will make a choice about what's right and what's wrong. wrong is the fact that millions of americans are unemployed. wrong is supporting a change in the long standing definition of

marriage. wrong is not supporting israel 100% as our ally in the middle east. >> jan brewer there work up the crowd on day two of the conservative values voters summit in the nation's capital. paul ryan was the star attraction yesterday. joining michele bachmann and jim dement, ryan fired up the crowd when he took aim at the health care law mandate requiring insurers provide free family planning coverage including birth control. >> this is into the threat and insult to one religious group. it is a threat and insult to every religious group. when mitt romney is elected, we will get to work on day one to reappeal that mandate and all of p obamacare. >> i'm joined now by deputy

political editor who was at that summit earlier. good afternoon to you. paul ryan helped to fire up the base no doubt. how does that kind of rhetoric play to the 1 million or so undecided voters most of whom we know are not socially conservative? >> we know the health care mandate is not very popular even with independents. but most people have also indicated that they want to move on after the supreme court ruling. and i'm not sure how much weight this really carries considering that mitt romney also strongly supported a mandate as part of his health care reform plan in massachusetts. >> they certainly were not in com any's corner during the primaries. what is the relationship now between the more conservative members of the republican party and mitt romney? >> there's a lot of evidence this could be a base election similar to 2004. when you look at undecided voters, they're kind of disaffected. they're done with the election. 90% of people have already said

they've pretty much made up their minds. there aren't a whole lot of people left to move. so a summit like this and working the base so to speak is really important for republican, important for democrats, but to get people out to the polls. and romney has never had a great relationship with the base and that's why i don't think you've seen a hard pivot to the meet. >> there was talk from lawyer are a ingrah thinlaura ingraham happy with mitt romney's advisers. >> if you can't beat barack obama with this record, then shut down the party. shut it down. >> shut down the party. what do you make of that? >> clearly the rumblings from the right, it's because of what you've seen after the two conventions. there was such a stark difference between the two conventions. i was there on the ground for both and tampa, they were fired

up to beat barack obama, but not so much to support mitt romney. and republicans still say they're enthusiastic about going to the polls, but again, it's not a vote for mitt romney, it's a vote against barack obama. john kerry had a problem with that in 2004, where it wasn't quite enough to be against bush. so romney has struggled to figure out a way to get people on board to support him. and that's why you've seen some of the soft sells that we've seen in the last couple days. >> let's talk about our poll, the new nbc/wall street journal maris poll, it shows that president obama has a lead over mitt romney in three critical battle ground states. arguably -- not even arguably. these are the three most important states. florida, ohio, and virginia. to what can we attribute the president's bounce in these states? >> i think the convention was certainly a turning point. republicans are calling this the sugar high from the democratic conventions. and the big speech obviously

there in addition to barack obama's was bill clinton's well received speech, the obama campaign knows that that played really well. they focus group and test everything. and the ad that you've seen more all over the country from the obama campaign is this choice ad where you see bill clinton talking about the choice in this election. the obama campaign out with an ad just this morning that also brings bill clinton in. and then pivots to barack obama. so the obama campaign really playing up the clinton speech. and i think the romney campaign if they wind up losing will look back three months and say what a that is it was to build up bill clinton as this truth sayer for the republican party to say, oh, barack obama's in the like bill clinton. the problem is bill clinton's alive and he can speak for himself. it's not the same as democrats trying to invoke ronald reagan. if reagan was alive, he would probably make the case for mitt romney, but chin linton can make

case for himself. >> and it also doesn't help the republican cause that he is undeniably the most popular living politician there is. thank you, sir. appreciate your saturday work. we'll talk to you later today. new poll numbers show one presidential candidate is gaining ground on the issue for voters. the economy. it's the economy, stupid. details on that straight ahead. and a little bit later, you will never get who this is. here's a hint. she spoke at the dnc in charlotte last week. she did not have that hair to then, though. you're watching msnbc. oard! [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites.

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question. president obama has erased romney's long standing edge on the central issue. the president has a double digit lead over romney when it comes to the question which would do more to help the middle class. but on the question which would do a better job in tackling the federal deficit, mitt romney has an eight point lead. and finally a question of truth or at least the perception of it, a new poll finds that 49% believe that team obama says things that it believes to be true while 42% say that it's been intentionally misleading. for team romney, almost the opposite. 43% believe the romney campaign is telling the truth while 48% say it intentionally misleads. we should note here neither campaign is over 50%. as always, it's florida, florida, florida. paul ryan is there today. but how is the gop fairing in the sunshine state? >> an apology for america's values is never the right

course. >> and did those comments by mitt romney this week put a dent in his campaign that can't be fixed some? we'll battle that question.

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here's a quick look at some of the stories making news. anti-u.s. protests have spread to nearly 20 countries across the middle east and beyond. even sydney, australia. the fewer error over anti-islam videos broke out early this week. this morning two nato soldiers were killed. gunman believed to be a member of the afghan police force. so far afghan soldiers and policemen have turned their guns on 47 international service members. back here, teachers in chicago are rallying in support of their week long strike while negotiators are expected to reach an agreement tomorrow. if they're successful, 350,000 students will be back in class monday morning. a new associated press poll

finds more than eight in ten americans do not like all the cash corporations, union and other groups are spending to influence campaigns. more than and a half a million dollars that's billion, has been spent so far this year on tv ads alone. and the first man to walk on the moon has been laid to rest at sea. neil armstrong's remains were bearrd in the atlantic ocean friday. he died last month at the age of 82. now to our political war room. the unrest in the middle east has put a spotlight on president obama's foreign policy record and how it compares to records of past presidents with republicans trying to link mr. obama to former president jimmy car tte carter. here to talk about that and a whole lot more, former chief of staff for joe man shon. also former campaign manager for mike huckabee. between afternoon to both of you. chip, let me start with you. gop trying to connect president obama with jimmy carter.

i want to share with our viewer as few quotes. "these attacks are sadly reminisce cents of the 1979 attack on our embassy in tehran. then came represent allen west saying obama's weak response to the attacks on our embassies shows that he is truly the weakest commander in chief since jimmy carter. and then finally, romney foreign policy adviser saying in part, quote, for the first time since jimmy carter, we've had an american ambassador assassina d assassinated. chip, is this effective? >> yeah, and i think it goes in to a larger narrative that you've seen even from the first campaign that barack obama was going to be a one term president just like dramatic pause, like yourself, jimmy carter. not only was it foreign policy, buts it was also the economy and as you know, jimmy carter had a terrible economy. barack obama has shuttled in a pretty bad economy for us. unemployment is high. so it's not just on foreignle policy, but everything they can tie into jimmy carter.

the challenge with that, and i'm sure chris will get into this, that was a long time ago and i'm not sure a lot of the voter out there remember jimmy cartkacart. >> he led me to my point. is this an effective line of attack that helps get mitt romney back into this race? >> if this is their strategy, they won't be in the race very much. the reality is if you ask voters, and this is the interesting thing and most recent polling, republicans have enjoyed kind of an advantage in foreign policy for decades. when you see with president obama, he's actually enjoying a significant advantage. it has to do with the fact that he ended the war in iraq, we're drawing town from afghanistan. most importantly, the war on terrorism. killing bin laden, taking apart al qaeda, that has been a significant accomplishment. and by any standard, that is i think pretty significant when you compare him to any president and to compare him to jimmy carter, doesn't really fly. voters i don't think buy that logic. and put all that aside.

the election is going to be about the economy. it will be about the future, it will be who do you think stands up for the middle class. the republicans want to have a debate on foreign policy, they're welcome to have it. they'll lose it. but from a strategic perspective, it's a stupid thing to do. >> chris racises an interesting point. for month, romney campaign's focus was the economy. now with what's happening in the middle east this past week and we expect to continue for at least the next few days, what does that mean for the romney message? >> i think the message still needs to be economy and as much as it truly pains knee agree with chris, this election is about the economy. it's going to be focused on that. and that is -- you'll win or lose based on the economy. obviously as we've seen last week, outside occurrences across thousands of miles from here can

dictate what we'll talk about for a couple days. the death of the ambassador and those americans is truly a tragedy and you can't express in words. they t. takes all the oxygen out of everything we talk about takes shou takes should. but people will be voting about the unemployment rate, gas prices, debt. >> i want to shift gears and talk about our latest poll. it found that in key swing states, there ain't a whole lot of undecided voters left. 5% in practicflorida, 5% in vir6 in respect ohio. i've said this could very welcome down to about 73 people in those three states.ohio. i've said this could very welcome down to about 73 people in those three states. given that romney is trailing nationally in most polls, how do you reach those undecided voters or are they reachable at this point? >> well, i mean, the romney strategy, to be honest, i'm not just saying this as a democrat, but as someone who has done politics, i don't understand.

they kind of blew through the last 90 days not creating narrative either for themselves or one that they could frame president obama with. and now they've basically come down to one opportunity. and that is the first debate. when you're spending the amount of money they'll spend, the democrats will spend the amount of money they're going to spend, it kind of crosses each other out. so you're not going to really change voter's opinions up that debate. if he doesn't do well in that debate, if he doesn't really have a knockout blow, i don't he see how he comes back. you cannot win this election if he doesn't win ohio. it really comes down to one state. actually multiple states, but in particular ohio. and he's down 7 points. and in multiple polls down in ohio. just a really bad sign for the romney campaign. >> we know no republican has ever won the white house without winning ohio. chip, you know, the debates are always of course very important in any presidential contest. do they have an outsized importance this time around?

>> it eaches like every four years we think they do and this time i think they actually do. it will give mitt romney the last opportunity to talk about the difference between barack obama and mitt romney and i know we talk about how different people see the election as a base election or whatever, but re-election of the president's always about that. the re-election of the president. and i think mitt romney has to remind people there's three numbers that matter. the unemployment rate and that's up. gallon of gasoline and that's at the highest level. and we have a $16 trillion debt. and if you agree with all those things, barack obama is your man. >> you say those things and the romney folks have been saying those things for months now and so have his support groups. if you've got mitt romney on stage next to barack obama, regardless of your politics, the president's a pretty likeable guy. he's a pretty charming guy. and he comes across fairly well on television. how concerned are republican strategists like yourself that mitt romney will get his clock cleaned? >> well, we're not going to outcool barack obama.

can't be done. i think few people probably tried it. bill clinton might be able to outcool barack obama, but that's about the only one. these debates are the opportunity to say if you're looking for the high school president or eighth great president, barack obama is great. but i'm here to fix the problem. and i think those 73 unskied votes have something in common. they probably voted for barack obama and they've been disappoint and they don't think he's done a great job, but they like him. they also know mitt romney and they think he might be able to fix it, so they don't like him. so the challenge is can we get there, can we get them to like mitt romney. >> chris, you get the last word. >> here's the problem. this is not just a question of being cool or uncool. it's a question about policies. and i think what's remarkable about this election is the american voters are much more sophisticated than sometimes candidates give them credit for. they're saying president obama inherited a mess and he has done an incredible job in terms of stabilizing starting to turn the

corner. and we spare and contrast the two candidates, what we have in romney are policies that won't make our lives better that don't address our middle class concerns. until romney does that, i don't see any path for him to win. i see a torturous schizophrenic message that we've seen over the last few weeks. >> all right, we'll leave it there. chris and chip, thanks to both of you. to our trail dust now. this is a clever little segment we've come up with. trail dust. after this week's jabs at the white house over the violence in libya and egypt, mitt romney now trying to get back on message. today he's taking a break from the campaign trail, but yesterday, romney returned to his refrain about a failed economy under president obama. he spoke in ohio where the latest nbc news wall street journal poll shows that he's trailing the pld resident by act poi of seven points.

>> this is a tough time and people are treading water at best, drowning at worst. you see right now thatseven poi. >> this is a tough time and people are treading water at best, drowning at worst. you see right now that median income has dropped by $4300 a family. even as the cost of health insurance has gone up, food is more expensive, utilities are more expensive, gasoline has doubled. this recovery hasn't happened the way it was supposed to. and the reason we're going to get a new president in november is we're going to have a president who will get the economy going and put people back to work. p. >> a little trail dust there for you. we'll be playing other clips for you throughout the next few hours from the campaign trail. it was this time four years ago when something happen that had could have changed the course of history. could have clinched the presidency for candidate barack obama. what was it? we flash back next. these fellas used capital one venture miles for a golf getaway. double miles you can actually use... but mr. single miles can't join his friends because he's getting hit with blackouts. shame on you.

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which candidate would win a fist fight? 58% say president obama would beat mitt romney while 22% say romney would clean obama's clock. 20% had no opinion saying that's a clown question, bro. >> he is the most interesting man in the world. >> i don't always drink beer, but you when i to, i prefer dos equis. >> jonathan gold smith star of those commercials hosting a fund-raiser for president obama in burlington, vermont next week. and now to kim kardashian. probably the least interesting person -- i kid. count her as undecided in the presidential race in case you care. the reality tv star telling the guardian that shae's a liberal republican who voted for president obama the first time

around. not sure if that's a liberal in thought or deed. not a quick question. which would you prefer, a trip to meet beyonce and her hubby or fly abroad in what ann romney has dubbed hair force one. beyonce offered barack obama supporters a chance to attend a fund-raiser she's hosting in new york. meanwhile the romney campaign offered supporter as chance to spend a day aboard with him on his campaign plain. and jennifer grant home oig, there she is in all of her '70s glory as a 19-year-old on the dating game. check it out. >> let's have a big hand to jennifer. >> bachelor number one -- >> he's still here. >> what was the most famous girl you've ever dated family us for? >> yes, i'm sorry, go ahead. >> and be specific. >> be specific. a former staffer telling the

detroit free press that after seeing the newly surfaced clip, granholm said she laughed so hard her stomach hurt. one question you hear on the campaign trail, are you better off than you were four years ago about that today flash book. four years exactly to september 15th, 2008. >> on the broadcast tonight, meltdown. the american financial system is rocked to its foundation as top wall street institutions top he will under a mountain of debt. coming up tonight, how did it happen. what's next. and how safe is your money. and today wall street had one of its worst days on record. dow jones industrial average lost 504 points on the day's trading. one of the largest point drops in history. nasdaq was down more than 81 points. s&p lost 59 points in today's trading. >> our economy i think still the fundamentals of you're economy are strong, but these are very,

very difficult times. >> many have cited that remark from senator john mccain about the country's situation as a key turning point in his campaign, especially since it came on the heels of the collapse of lehman brothers. could mitt romney's statements on egypt and the unrest in the middle east make a similar impact this time around? we'll take a look at that in our next hour. coming up, paul ryan was there today. president obama's heading there next week. why florida is such a must win state. our battleground breakdown next. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need

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the presidential election could hinge on florida, florida, florida. right now president obama enjoy as five point lead over mitt romney in the sunshine state. that's according to the new nbc

news/"wall street journal" maris poll. but that's still too close to comfort. so the president will head to florida next week as his campaign launches a massive tv ad blitz. on wednesday, the president turned to his new bff to try to drive home how crucial florida is both for the bobama campaign and the country. >> that is the future today. you have lots of young people with great diversity and enormous promise and too much poverty. you've got a ton of old folks just like all of america's going to have as we baby boomers retire. and some are active and some need a little more help. then you got all these folks inned middle trying to build an entrepreneurial future. and i want you to think about the main points i try to make in terms of let's just use orlando.

i believe what works in politics is an economic philosophy of shared prosperity, not one of trickle down. i believe what works in our real lives is a commitment to a society based on we're all in this together, not one based on you're on your own. and i believe what works to make progress is cooperation, not constant conflict. >> in the first part of the speech, president clinton trying to appeal to one audience and then putting on his glasses to try to appeal to an entirely different group. not sure what that was about. to help us understand, susan mcmanus and shira is back with

us. they're targeting ten tv markets where they say it will be the largest and earliest buy for a presidential contest ever. i want to take a look at some of what they're trying to sell to voters. >> here's where we are today. 30 months of private sector job growth, creating 4.6 million new jobs. we're not there yet. but the real question is whose plan is better for you. >> 29 votes -- 29 electoral votes up for grabs in florida. how important is a win there for the president, how important is it for mitt romney? >> from the very beginning, everyone had absolutely known that for the republicans, it's critical. you can't win the white house if you you don't win florida. romney has got to have florida. but lately, it's become even as important to democrats and to the president's re-election as he's done less well in some other states that he carried in

2008. so that's why it's so important. we're seeing the candidates, their spouses and their vice presidential running mates every other day practically here. and just since march, $120 million worth of tv ads have been dropped into our state. so it is a must have say the for both parties at this point. >> people can't even watch the news in florida, can they. shira, let's take a look at that poll we've been talking about. you see the president at 49%, mitt romney at 44%. this is a state where unemployment is 2.5% higher than it was this time four years ago. not to mention home foreclosures there being higher than the national average. why is it that mitt romney has not been able to close the deal in the sunshine state? >> i think the economic diversity of florida plays a lot into this. florida is kind of a tough political nut to crack because you have as the former president just explained many different income levels, you have a housing market that's very

mixed, the bottom fell out during the crash, but obviously there are very nice homes in healthy markets in certain parts of florida. i think it's been hard for mitt romney to hone his message to different parts of the city. and plus they just had the republican national convention in tampa which is also where the democrats bought a lot of time for this new ad. i think that's notable. the republican message of the big convention probably permeated throughout florida. instead of micro targeting certain parts of it. >> susan, my understanding is that there are roughly some 600,000 more democrats than republicans registered there in that state. that's not guarantee of a democratic win, though. back in 2008, the president beating john mccain by just 3%. in 2004, president bush beating john kerry by 5%. which groups in florida or which group in florida is going to decide this race? >> i really think you have to look at florida from a generational perspective. right now, you're seeing that older voters are leaning more

towards the president. and president obama -- leaning towards romney and younger voters need to be heavily in line with barack obama which is precisely why every visit into florida is to some college campus. because it was in 2008 the younger vote that was the most cohesively behind the president and had a higher than average turnout. so if this election turns out to be one dominated by 50 and over, i think romney will win florida. but if the president can get the younger vote out, it will be a good chance that the president can win again. >> i want to ask you you about one more group here in particular. we have the crisis in libya, the supposed snubbing of netanyahu. will president obama face tougher challenge mopping jewam voters in florida? >> he's already had a little bit of erosion there which is precisely why bill clinton was

in south florida. there's no one more be loved in the jewish community than bill clinton and particularly his wife, hillary wlorks did veho i she ran in the year that obama ultimately won the presidency. so there is concern of any slippage. because everyone the 2010 election, the closest in florida history, our elections have been getting closer, not wider apart. less than 1% or so is determining who wins florida. >> smira, what does the president need to say in florida next week? >> i think he needs to reach out to the what tee no volatina vot. he has to build on his successes there already. >> thanks for joining us. coming up, a big court decision which could have a major impact on big labor. what does it mean for wisconsin governor walker and the

conservatives who hope to follow in his foot steps? also, the man behind the film which has sparked all that violence in the muslim world. the man who may have played a key role in the film's creation questioned by police overnight in california. we'll have more on that a little later right here on msnbc. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.